


I promise to be always there when you need me

by superpineappleenthusiast



Category: Iron Man (Movies), Marvel Cinematic Universe, Spider-Man (Tom Holland Movies), The Avengers (Marvel Movies)
Genre: Avengers: Endgame (Movie) Spoilers, Canon Compliant, F/M, Gen, Morgan Stark Needs a Hug (Marvel Cinematic Universe), Peter Parker & Morgan Stark are Siblings (Marvel Cinematic Universe), Peter Parker Needs a Hug, Siblings
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2021-02-03
Updated: 2021-02-17
Packaged: 2021-03-14 09:14:54
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 3
Words: 7,056
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29168670
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/superpineappleenthusiast/pseuds/superpineappleenthusiast
Summary: brother/ˈbrʌðə/noun1.a man or boy in relation to other sons and daughters of his parents.Morgan knew Daddy wasn’t Petey’s real dad. But Peter was Morgan’s brother, and always would be.
Relationships: Michelle Jones/Peter Parker, Morgan Stark (Marvel Cinematic Universe) & Tony Stark, Peter Parker & Morgan Stark (Marvel Cinematic Universe), Peter Parker & Pepper Potts, Peter Parker & Tony Stark
Comments: 12
Kudos: 171





	1. Chapter 1

Morgan was 4 years old when she met Peter Parker. It was on the day where Mommy made her wear an itchy black dress, and all the ‘vengers came over looking very, very sad. 

She was curled up in Mommy’s side, face planted in her stomach. She didn’t want to talk to the ‘vengers or Uncle Rhodey or ANYONE. She wanted Daddy but Daddy wasn’t here and Mommy said he’s not coming back. 

“Morgan,” Mommy had said. Her beautiful hair was messy and her eyes red. But that didn’t make any sense because that would mean Mommy had cried and Mommy never cries.

Mommy took a deep breath and started again. “Morgan, remember what I told you about the dusted?”

Morgan nodded. Of course she did. Morgan was four, not stupid. Everyone knew about the snap, even little girls like her.

“Well, they all came back. Daddy and the Avengers brought them back. But Daddy-” Here Mommy’s voice choked on a sob. “Daddy’s not coming home. Daddy saved everyone. He’s a hero. But he’s lost.”

“Well then let’s go find him!” Morgan chirped. She had gotten lost at a grocery store once. But Daddy had found her, gave her a big hug, and they went home. 

“Sweetie, I don’t think we’re ever going to find him.” Mommy closed her eyes. “Daddy’s not coming home.

That was three days ago. Now Morgan just hugged her spidey stuffy closer to her chest and wished Daddy could be here. Daddy was the one her gave her spidey. Spiderman was Morgan’s favourite superhero ever! And Morgan’s favourite bedtime stories. She especially liked the one with the nice lady with the churro. But now Daddy could not tell her any more stories.

The quiet murmur of voices was soothing, and Morgan found herself drifting off. It was only when she heard someone come up to Mommy that she raised her head.

“Miss Potts?” It was a boy. Morgan stared hard at him, trying to figure out where she had seen him before. 

“Hey sweetie. And please just call me Pepper.” Mommy says softly. Morgan knew that face, she did!

Morgan gasped, “Petey!” and leapt off the sofa and gave him a big hug. He stiffened.

“H-hello,” Peter said.

“You are Petey right?” Morgan asked frowning as seriously as a four year old can.

“Yeah. Peter. Parker. Peter Parker.” He looked confused.

“My name is Morgan H Stark and I’m four-and-three-quarters. You're Petey and my big brother!” Morgan loosened her grip on Peter and grinned up at him.

Peter inhaled sharply. His eyes filled with tears and he looked up at Mommy. 

“You know who I am?” He asked unsteadily. 

“Of course I do!” Morgan looked offended. “You’re my brother. You’re in the picture that makes Daddy sad and,” Here she lowered her voice. “You’re Spiderman. But that’s a secret.”

Peter looked like he was going to cry. That was no good so Morgan grabbed his wrist and pulled him towards the stairs. “Come on, I’ll show you your room!”

“My room?” Peter said faintly.

“Yes silly!” Peter let himself get pulled up the stairs to a hallway. Each of the doors had something on it, but they couldn’t see it from where they were standing.

“Look!” Morgan went past her pink door, which had her name written in gold cursive. She stopped in front of the gray door with Peter’s name in blue blocky chunks.

“I’m not supposed to come in here without Daddy but I come all the time.” The door swung open to reveal Peter’s room. The walls were a dark grey, a bed with a red and blue bedspread in a corner. Warm light from the setting sun filtered through big windows. A desk with big textbooks and other school supplies scattered over it. A shelf proudly held a finished lego Death Star and Star Destroyer. There was a huge star wars poster on one wall, signed by Harrison Ford. On another was a painting of Iron Man and Spiderman flying down the streets of New York.

“And these are yours!” Morgan picked up one of the wrapped gift from the pile in the corners. “We got presents every year at Christmas and on your birthday. This one’s from me.”

As Morgan went through the gifts with Peter, she decided that having a brother was the best thing EVER.

It was really late when Morgan woke up in the middle of the night to get water. But she would hear low voices murmuring in the kitchen and she crept down quietly to listen.

“Miss Potts,” Morgan could hear Peter start.

“Please Peter, just call me Pepper. I haven’t been Miss Potts for some time.”

“S-sorry Mi- I mean Pepper.” Peter looked so tired, even from where Morgan was standing.

“It’s all right.” Mommy said gently.

“I just, I don’t understand.” Peter shook his head. “Why is all my stuff here and why does Morgan think I’m her brother? I’m nobody special, I’m just some kid from Queens.”

“Oh sweetie, Tony loved you.” Peter sobbed, covering his face with his hands. “He thought the world of you. He brought all your things from your apartment and from you old room in the tower when he found out May had dusted and brought them here. He gave you that room because he never gave up hope that he would come back. He loved you so, so much.”

Peter sniffed. “I love him too. He’s like my dad and I never got to tell him that.”

Morgan felt a tear slip down her face. She watched as Mommy pulled Peter into a hug and whisper, “He knew kid. He knew.”

All of this talk about Daddy made Morgan miss him so much. Miss him sneaking her juice pops and his funny jokes and his nice dad smell. More tears fell down her small face.

“Morgan?” Peter called. Peter and Mommy had stopped hugging, and Mommy had headed towards the bathroom. “Is that you?”

She sobbed and barrelled into him wrapping her arms around his waist. He hugged her back and stroked her hair, just like Daddy would have done.

“I want Daddy!” She wailed as more tears came. “I miss him so much. I want him to come home!”

“Me too.” He whispered. They fell onto the couch still clinging to each other. Peter kept his hold on Morgan until her tears calmed to a slow trickle.

“Why don’t I tell you a story about your dad?” Peter asked. Morgan nodded, burrowing into his side.

“One day, I was on patrol and I found this little black cat. She had nowhere to go so I brought her home with me. You dad was not happy at all when he found a cat trailing after me when I came to see him.”

Morgan let the sounds of Peter’s voice wash over her. Daddy may not be here, but Peter was. He would look after her.


	2. Chapter 2

Morgan was 14 years old when she punched Charlie Smith in the face and knocked out a tooth. In her defence he was being an ass and totally deserved it.

Morgan had been in the library reading To Kill a Mockingbird when Beth had skipped up to her waving a stack of papers.

“98%,” Beth squealed. “All thanks to you amaaaaazing illustrations.”

“Please.” Morgan scoffed. “We both know it’s because of all that research you did. But 98 is really not bad.”

“Not bad? Momo you really have to give yourself more credit. You’re like the best artist in 8th grade. Probably in the entire school.”

Beth Kamsmi, official best friend of Morgan Stark since the second hour of kindergarten. They had become inseparable after bonding over their love for books and hatred of math. And Beth never judged or made assumptions about Iron Man’s daughter.

“C’mon,” Beth dragged Morgan to her feet. “We have an algebra class to get to.”

Morgan groaned theoretically and followed. “Speaking of math, do you think we’ll be getting our tests back today?”

“Ugh, don’t remind me.” Beth flipped her golden brown hair over her shoulder. “I’m like, 99 percent sure I failed. And seriously, how is this supposed to help me in the future?”

They walked into the blue math room and plopped down into their seats. 

“Hey Stark!” Morgan’s head shot up at the sound of Charlie Smith’s voice. “Ready to find out how badly you failed last week’s test?”

The rest of his goons snickered. Beth shot to her feet, about to say something when Morgan pulled her down. “Just leave it. We both know I did badly.”

Beth winced. “It’s still rude.”

“Whatever. I’m used to it.” Morgan pulled out her sketchbook. “Anyways, do you wanna see this new thing I’ve been working on- never mind.” She ended abruptly. 

Morgan shoved her sketchbook back into her bag. Mr Hardy had walked into the room and Morgan really didn’t want to get on his bad side today. It didn’t help that Hardy already hated her. He had been ecstatic to find out that THE Tony Stark’s daughter was going to be in his Algebra class. Who wouldn’t have been? Tony Stark was famous for his mind, his wit and incomprehensible superiority in the mathematical and scientific field. He wasn’t called a genius for nothing.

It was supposed to be her legacy. Howard Stark had been the genius of his time. Tony Stark even more so. They had built up a multi billion company off nothing but their brilliant minds. And you have Morgan Stark. A girl with no interest in math or science or engineering or even business (if she wanted to follow her Mom’s footsteps). Instead they were stuck with a girl who loves music and art and poetry.

Pffft. And now Stark Industries is led by a man who isn’t even a Stark. Not that Morgan had anything against that. Peter was perfect for the job. He was a genius, leveling even the minds of Bruce Banner and Princess Shuri of Wakanda. He could deal with stocks and snotty businessmen with ease. And he was still soaring high, with talk of letting him take over as the leader of the Avengers.

And Morgan loved her brother. But she couldn’t help but compare herself to him. She couldn’t help but look at herself and look at Peter and wonder who really was the real Stark.

And Morgan was not the only one who thought like this. Mr Hardy had been so disappointed that the Starkness of Starks had not passed down to Morgan H Stark. And so, as he liked to remind her, she was a failure as a Stark. Like that helped with her mentality.

She sighed as Mr Hardy called for attention.

“I would like to announce that everyone did well on this last test. Well, almost everyone.” His eyes trailed meaningfully towards Morgan. She buried her face into her and felt Beth pat her arm sympathetically. 

“Well done Miss Kamsmi.” Mr Hardy put down the test paper upside down. “Miss Stark. I wish you did better.”

Morgan flipped the paper around with a groan. A big 32% stood out in the corner in bright red ink. 

“So… 32 huh? It’s better than 18?” Beth tried. Morgan raised her head to glare at Beth. “Sorry. Just trying to lighten the mood.”

Morgan sighed again. “What’d you get?”

“92.” Beth said shortly. Beth, unlike Morgan, was not bad at math despite her aversion to the subject.

“I’m sorry Momo,” Beth tried again.

“It’s alright. Like I said, I’m used to it. Do you still want to see my new drawing?” Morgan tried to change the subject.

Beth raised a perfect eyebrow that said I know what you doing and I don't like it but leaned over to see.

“Wow. Morgan this is like the best thing I’ve seen you draw.” Beth grabbed another notebook out of Morgan’s bag and began looking through it. “You should match it with that poem about life.”

Morgan looked down at the page where a lion roared back at her. Powerful jaws widend, thick man surrounded by drooping leaves of the jungle.

“Yeah. That’d be great.”

“Sup Stark,” Charlie yelled across the lunchroom.

“Seriously? Him again?” Beth rolled her eyes.

“What do you want Charles?” Morgan opened her sandwich. 

“Oh nothing, nothing. Just wanted to ask what you scored on the math test. It was soo easy, wasn't it darling?” Here he winked at Beth, who glared steadily back.

“Let’s see here.” His hand flashed out and grabbed the test off the table. “32. Thirty two. HEY GUESS WHAT EVERYONE. MORGAN STARK SCORED 32 ON HER LATEST ALGEBRA TEST. MORGAN STARK!”

“What the fuck man!” Beth’s glare intensified. Morgan just drooped. Everyone knew what a failure she was.

Charlie turned back to Morgan. “I can’t believe you're actually Iron Man’s daughter. Tony Stark was a genius hero. You’re nobody. An absolute idiot who can’t even defend yourself. How pathetic. The world’s greatest hero’s daughter getting defended by her little girlfriend.”

“Just go away Charlie. You’re wasting both of our time.” Morgan stood up. “Let’s go Beth.”

“Uh uh uh.” Charlie shook his head condescendingly and shoved Morgan back into her seat. “You’re not going anywhere.” 

“Please don’t touch me.” Morgan pushed his hands away.

“Pwease don’t twouch me.” Charlie mimicked. “And speaking of pathetic, what about Peter Parker? Not even a Stark, I wonder how he got to where he is.”

“Don’t talk about Peter, it's none of your business.” Morgan interrupted.

“There were all sorts of tabloids before the blip. Who the teenage boy with Tony Stark was. Many of them thought he was Stark’s illegitimate son, given his past.” Charlie continued.

“That’s low dude.” Beth raised an eyebrow at Charlie.

“I always thought it was something else.” He went on, choosing to ignore both girls. At this point a crowd had gathered. Morgan was pretty sure someone was recording this. “Rumer was that Parker was Stark’s little boy toy. That he sucked his way to where he is now. A little whore trying to make his way to the top.”

Morgan saw red. She didn’t care if people pointed out her lack of academic prowess. But nobody, nobody insulted her family. She swung her fist hard, connecting with Charlie’s jaw.

Peter was having a good day. R&D had gotten their projects in on time and the press conference regarding Stark Industries latest technology had gone smoothly. He was looking forward to going home early to spend time with MJ and baby Ben.

So when his secretary popped his head into his office and said, “Call from Ms Morgan’s school for you sir.”, he was surprised.

“Put it in Geraldine.” Peter put the phone to his ear.

“Peter Parker.”

“Ah, hello Mr Parker, this is Mr Press, principal of Trinity Middle School.”

“Yes, yes is Morgan alright?” Peter was already hurrying down to the lift. 

“She is mostly unharmed. I-”

“Mostly?!” Peter snapped.

“Morgan has gotten into a fight. Morgan has informed us that Mrs Potts-Stark is out of the country and you are her next emergency contact.”

“Alright, I’ll be there in 15 minutes.”

Peter sighed as he hung up. It wasn’t like Morgan to get into a fight. She was sweet and relatively quiet, but she did have that protective streak that Peter associated with Tony.

He dialed another number and waited as it rang.

“Hey Em, just a heads up I’ll be bringing Morgan around in about half another. I’ll explain later.”

Morgan was sitting in the office when Peter walked in. She was sitting on a low sofa, Beth staying beside her. Mr Press had tried to make her leave, but Beth insisted that she stayed as moral support. Morgan’s ribs hurt and her face is a mess of blood and tears

On the sofa opposite them sat Charlie Smith, cradling his mouth with an ice pack. He was glaring at her, but also seemed to radiate smugness, as if he knew what was going to happen.

Peter walked in crisp and businesslike. He hurries to her, and holds her face in his hands. He wraps an arm around her, probably noticing when she winced. He pushes back some dark curls, and winces at the blood on her face. He rounds on Mr Press.

“You said she was mostly unharmed!” Peter accuses.

“We-well she said she was alright.” Mr Press tries to defend.

“You think I don’t know bruised ribs and a broken nose when I see them?” Peter folds his arms.

Mr Press looks terrified. Sometimes Morgan forgets who Peter is to the rest of the world. Ever since the Mysterio fiasco all those years ago, the world has known that Peter Parker is Spiderman, the avenger. Not only that, being CEO of SI makes Peter one of the most influential men on the planet. Mr Press takes a step backwards, and is nearly run over by a flurry of scarves.

A woman, presumably Charlie’s mom, was a short stout woman, dressed in a ridiculous (at least in Morgan’s opinion) pink dress with scarves pinned all around her. She was fluttering around her son, moaning about his ‘beautiful little face’.

“I want this girl expelled, Press!” She wailed. “She hurt my baby!”

“Mom!” Charlie pushed her arm off, looking sullen.

“I’m afraid if we expel Miss Stark we would have to do the same with you son Mrs Smith. On top of that this is your son’s third offence, where it is only Miss Stark’s first.” Mr Press looked tired.

“But it wasn’t his fault! My baby said this girl punched him first. With no reason!” Mrs Smith cried.

“That’s not true.” Beth spoke up for the first time. “Charlie was bullying Morgan, and not for the first time.”

Mr Press looked apologetic. “I’m afraid we can’t use that as evidence without proof Miss Kamsmi.”

Beth smiled triumphantly. “Joyce recorded the whole event, and sent me the video.” She waved her silver phone.

Peter tapped a few things on his watch and said, “Karen can you be a dear and pull up the file?”

A hologram of a familiar lunchroom popped up. Everyone in the room watched with bated breath, except for Morgan, who just leaned against Peter’s warm body, and Charlie, who looked paler and paler, especially when they got to the part where he started talking about Peter, his eyes flicking to said person.

“See! She punched him first!” Charlie's mom tried to start, but stopped when Mr Press held up a hand. He turned to Peter and Morgan.

“Mr Parker, Morgan will be suspended for three days. You two can leave now and I will continue to talk with the Smiths to find a suitable punishment for Charlie.” Mr Press shook Peter’s free arm, the other still wrapped around Morgan.

“Thank you. Thank you to you too Beth.” Peter smiled at Morgan’s friend, who waved back. 

‘I’ll text you,’ Beth mouthed. 

Morgan nodded, and pressed further into Peter’s side. He led her out of the room before saying, “We’ll talk about this when we get home.”

The car ride to Peter’s apartment was quiet. Peter kept looking towards Morgan, who chose to keep her head facing the window. She really didn’t want to have this conversation, but she knew it was inevitable. 

“Hey Em,” He called when they entered the white penthouse. 

“Peter! Are you going to explain why you pulled Morgan out of- oh.” She ended abruptly. Peter’s wife was dressed in a loose T-shirt and leggings, and their son Ben on her hip.

“I’ll go get the first aid kit,” She said and spun out of the room.

She came back a few moments later and handed the box to Peter. He took a wet cloth and started to wipe the blood off her face. She started to protest, and say she could do it herself, but the look on Peter’s face made her stop.

“You’re dad did this for me once.” He started. Morgan looked up. Wasn’t he going to make her talk about what happened? “I got into a fight with a kid named Flash.”

Morgan snorted. “What sort of name is Flash?”

“A loser.” MJ piped up. “His real name’s Eugene. I still don’t know which ones worse.”

“Anyways. Flash liked to pick on me, probably because he thought I was smarter than him. But that's not the point. He started off saying the usual things, petty childish things really. I didn’t really care, it was just the usual stuff.” Peter carefully applied antiseptic to a cut on her forehead.

“And then he started saying things about the internship and Mr Stark. Looking back, I think he was just jealous and insecure. But he said the exact same thing as what that Charlie kid said. That I was Mr Stark’s boy toy. And I lost it. Not because I was offended, but because I was so angry that he would insinuate something like that about Tony” Peter motioned for her to lift up her shirt a little.

“They beat the shit out of each other.” MJ looked fondly exasperated. “Of course this loser was pulling his punches, but it was still pretty interesting. And then Stark came to pick him up. I’m pretty sure Flash was going to pass out when he realized that Peter’s internship was real.”

“Yeah well,” Peter looked sheepish. “Your dad really enjoyed making dramatic entrances. And he told me the same thing that I’m going to tell you. I have people to deal with these things. I don’t need you getting into fights to defend my honor.”

“I know, I just.” Morgan fumbled for the right words. “I was just so angry.”

Peter smiled sadly and opened his arms. Morgan dove into them, feeling all the world like the five year old she once was, feeling completely safe in her brother’s arms.

“Also you are not a failure. Just because your math skills are not the best does not mean that you are a terrible Stark. You are an amazing artist and a brilliant poet. And look at me.” Morgan raised her eyes to meet Peter’s. “Your dad would be so, so proud of you.” 

Morgan choked on a sob. “Really?”

“Really. He would have loved you no matter what.” Morgan gave Peter a watery smile.

“Thanks Peter.”

“No problem baby sister. I’m proud of you too.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you so much everyone who has read this! I was hoping for 50 hits and maybe 8 kudos but I got 441 hits and 57 kudos in ONE NIGHT. Totally made my day.


	3. Chapter 3

Morgan was 16 years old when she tried on an Iron Man suit. Not her Mom’s RESCUE armour that she sneaked on once with Beth two years ago but a legit Iron Man suit. It fit differently, clearly made for a man and not a teenage girl but Morgan got Friday to help her get the nano-particles to hug her body.

She wasn’t really sure why she did it. Maybe as a last ditch attempt to get closer to a father she could not remember, or to prove something to herself. Prove that she was worthy of holding the Stark name.

But she wanted to do something, she wanted to help. She had the suit, so why shouldn’t she help people. She didn’t need to be a genius to figure out the suit. She would sneak on the suit when her Mom was out shopping and Peter in meetings.

Beth came over after three months of practice and Morgan showed her how far she had come. She could fly around with ease now, shooting repulsor beams like she had been born to do this. Maybe she had been. Maybe there was something in her blood, something that pushed her to be a superhero.

Morgan wanted to help, but she didn’t know how. She couldn’t go out and patrol like she knew Peter did when he was her age. Iron Man was too famous, even 12 years after Tony Stark’s death. It would make the front pages of newspapers and her cover would be blown. No, Morgan needed to wait for the right moment to make her entrance. 

So Morgan listened to music and drew and painted, her Mom never suspecting for a moment that her daughter snuck out every night to practice with the Iron Man suit. Morgan even used spray paint, one of her latest passions, to add more personal touches to the Iron Man suit.

And after another month of waiting, Morgan got her chance. When aliens attacked New York (again, she might add. It was getting kind of cliche if you asked Morgan. Why couldn’t they go to Florida or something) the Avengers were called to assemble. Not the original Avengers. Pretty much all of them had retired. But a new generation of Avengers, most of them children of the original ones. 

Peter of course, being their leader as Spiderman. Cassie Lang as Stature and Lila Barton as Hawkeye. Lila’s brother Cooper hadn’t decided on a superhero name, but used swords similar to the ones the original hawkeye used after the decimination. Shuri, who used her genius mind and technology to kick ass. Out of the original avengers only Wanda and Pietro Maximoff were left, as Scarlet Witch and Quicksilver respectively.

As Morgan flew down the streets of New York she could feel the eyes of people on her. She knew seeing Iron Man for the first time in 14 years must be pretty shocking, especially for those who grew up with Iron Man. Morgan could hear them shouting down on the street.

“Did you see that? Did you?”

“Iron Man?”

“Is that Iron Man?”

“How- What?”

“Whooo! Go get ‘em!”

Morgan grinned. No wonder her dad had done this for so many years. Flying in a big open space was so much more exhilarating than practicing in the garage. This was possibly the best thing that had ever happened to Morgan.

When she finally reached the fight, green goop covered many buildings. The aliens, grey and scaly seemed to be spitting some sort of green slime. Morgan shuddered. That was not going to be fun to clean up.

Lila was the first to see Morgan from her perch on a high ledge. Morgan saw her mouth form soundless words.

“Friday, patch me into their comms.” Morgan swerved around an alien, blasting it into oblivion.

“Peter! Peter are you seeing this?” Lila’s voice was slightly shaky.

Peter swung down from a building and visibly faltered. “Who’s that?”

“I have no idea,” Shuri shouted from a corner.

“Iron Man identify yourself.” Peter demanded.

“It’s Iron Women Petey,” Morgan called.

“Morgan!” At least three voices blared in her ear.

“That’s me!” Morgan sang, blowing up another cluster of aliens.

“Shit,” Cassie whispered. 

“Morgan what the hell are you doing here?” Peter sounded mad. 

“Saving your asses.” She called back.

“Morgan get out of here!” Peter landed in front of her. “People could get hurt!”

“Exactly! That’s why I’m here!” Morgan was offended. What did Peter think she was here for? She wasn’t five, thank you very much.

“I would suggest listening to the boss,” Friday butted in.

“You could get hurt!” Peter tased an alien that had gotten too close for comfort.

“I’ll be fine big brother, stop worrying,” And Morgan flew up and away.

“Peter as much as I agree with you, we have a job to do,” Wanda’s voice filtered through the comms.

“I know. But we’re not done talking about this Morgan.” Morgan could feel Peter’s glare through the mask. Why was he so upset? He had fought Thanos when he was her age. She wasn’t some little kid who needed help tying her shoes. It’s not like she was in any danger, she had the suit.

“Morgan,” Friday tried again.

“Whose side are you on?” Morgan snapped.

“I don’t think-”

“Friday mute.” Why did everyone think she was incapable of helping?

After that, Morgan’s happiness was muted. But the disagreement could not take away the total awesomeness of the Iron Man suit.

A text message from Beth appeared in the corner. 

‘Momo’

‘Is that you’

‘It’s all over the new!’

‘Morgan!’

‘Im srsly dying from curiosity over here’

“Friday, text Beth back and tell her, yes that's me and I’m having the time of my life,” Morgan forgot that she was supposed to be mad at Friday.

She swung around New York, shooting aliens, kicking aliens, swerving around aliens. Morgan tried to avoid the Avengers on a whole. She wasn’t looking forward to getting chewed out by Peter when the fight was over.

It took four hours for all the aliens to be defeated. Peter was tired, upset with Morgan, and covered with green slime from head to toe. Not the best combination.

What was she thinking? Morgan could have been hurt, or killed! Peter wondered if this was what Tony felt like after the ferry incident, or when he showed up on the spaceship going to Titan. He shuddered.

He spun around to face his team. “I have to go get Morgan.”

Pietro nodded. “We’ll meet you at the compound later.”

“Don’t be too hard on her,” Wanda said softly. “She’s just a kid.”

“Just a kid who could have gotten herself killed,” Peter growled, and swung up to the roof where Morgan was sitting.

Lila and Cooper exchanged glances and Cassie sighed.

“I have a bad feeling about this.” Shuri said.

“What were you thinking!” Peter swung up next to Morgan.

“Hey, I helped! Admit it!” Morgan stood up to face her brother. The nanoparticles that formed his mask pulled away, revealing Peter’s furious gaze. Oh no. Morgan hadn’t ever seen Peter look this upset.

“What you did was irresponsible, immature and dangerous. You could have gotten someone killed! Do you even know how to use the suit?” Peter advanced on Morgan. 

“Of course I do!” Morgan stepped forward.

“No! This is where you zip it alright? The adult is talking.” Whoops. Now Peter looked even more angry.

“Did you even think about the consequences? What if you hurt someone, huh? What if you missed a shot and you hit a building full of people. You have no training, no experience, nada. You are a child!” Peter took another step.

“I’m sixteen, not five. And if I remember correctly, you went to space when you were my age.” Morgan said bitingly. 

“Exactly. And I DIED.” That was a mistake. Peter rarely talked about what happened on Titan, and it was not in Morgan’s place to bring it up.

“You can’t tell me what to do!” Morgan’s voice was rising. “You’re not even my real brother.”

No. She did not just say that. She didn’t mean that. “Peter-”

“Friday?” Peter interrupted, talking to the Iron Man suit Morgan was still in.

“Yes Boss?” Friday replied.

“Deactivate the suit.” Peter’s voice was now void of emotion. “Send it back to the compound. Lock the rest of the suits up and make sure Morgan cannot get to any of them. And call Pepper for me.”

“Yes Boss.”

“I have a meeting. I’ll see you later.” Peter leaped off the roof, but not before Morgan heard him mumble, “God, I sound like Tony. I wish-”

Morgan stumbled as the suit came apart, before shooting off in the direction of the compound. She crumbled into a ball, a tear running down her cheek, quickly followed by another. What just happened?

She couldn’t believe she said that. Peter was her brother. He was her rock, her support, and now she ruined everything. There was no way he would ever forgive her.

She stayed there for sometime, watching as the sun went down, numb. She couldn’t go home, her Mom- God, Mom would kill her. Or worse, her Mom would cry, and Morgan really couldn’t deal with that. She couldn’t go to Beth’s. She wouldn’t understand, even if she tried. And she obviously couldn’t go to the Parkers’ penthouse. 

So Morgan stays out.

Playground benches are the worst place to spend the night.

But it’s cold.

And lonely.

She wants to go home.

She caves two days later, when she’s so hungry and so tired. She went to Peter’s, which was probably not the smartest idea. But he was probably at some meeting, and maybe MJ would give her some food. Her finger hovered hesitantly over the lift then hit it before she could change her mind.

Oh this was very dumb. Why was she here again? This was a terrible idea. 

Ding!

Well. It was too late to turn around. She reached for the doorbell hesitantly, and jumped back as the door swung open.

“Oh my God, Morgan!” A very pregnant MJ pulled her into the apartment. “Everybody’s been looking for you!”

“Sorry,” Morgan said in a small voice.

“Pepper’s worried sick and Peter’s been patrolling the streets looking for you. Where were you?” MJ pulls out her phone. “Hey Loser, I found her… Mhm yeah… ok. Bye.”

Ben toddled up to her. “Mo’an! Mo’an!” He squealed and held up his arms, the universal sign of wanting to be picked up.

“Peter’s coming back and calling you mom. Do you want to explain where you were before or after he comes home?” She placed her hands on her hips.

“I- I just,” Morgan felt a tear slide down her cheek and rubbed it away angrily. “I thought Peter was mad at me and I thought he was done with me and Mom and Uncle Rhodey are going to kill me and Beth just won’t get it and I don’t know what to do I messed up so much and Peter was right I could have killed someone and it would be all my fault and I hurt Peter so badly and I’m so sorry and I had nowhere to go and everybody is going to hate me-”

“Shh,” MJ reached over and pulled Morgan into a hug. “Let me stop you right there. Nobody hates you. Your Mom and Peter love you. Nothing you do is going to change that.”

Morgan sobbed. This was all her fault and no matter what MJ said she had still messed up badly. She just wanted to cry and feel miserable. She barely registered the door opening and closing softly and continued to sob.

“Oh Morgan,” And suddenly she was pulled into Peter’s arms and she was home. Half of her wanted to melt into his arms and cry and pretend that all her problems could just go away, but the other, rational part of her insisted that nothing was going to fix this. But that part of her was defeated by the part that just wanted to be comforted and loved.

“I’m s’rry,” She choked out, after she was calmed down a little. Her face was still planted in Peter’s stomach.

“Me too.” Morgan felt him stroke her head. “Do you want to talk now?”

“Okay.” Morgan sniffed and pulled away from Peter. MJ had left with Ben at some point, she didn’t remember.

“Do you want to explain why you didn’t come home first?” Peter probed gently.

“I- I’m sorry I made you worry,” Morgan muttered.

“I know. But I want to know why,” Peter’s voice is firm, but kind.

“Because I messed up. And I hurt you so much. I just couldn’t go home, you know.” Morgan put her head in her hands. “I know you must hate me for it-”

“Morgan, no,” Peter interrupted. “I could never hate you.”

“But I said-”

“I know what you said. And we’ll talk about it later. But I love you, and nothing you say is going to change that. Do you understand?” Morgan tilted her head up to face Peter.

“I understand.” She said quietly. “I’m sorr-”

“Nope, my turn to apologise.” Peter took her hands in his. “I’m sorry. I was too hard on you. I- I was just really afraid that you would get hurt. I can’t lose you Morgan, especially after your dad. I was angry, and I shouldn’t have left you there.”

“No that’s my fault.” Morgan stopped him. “I shouldn’t have brought up Titan and Petey, you’re my brother. Don’t ever listen to me if I say anything else like that okay? I was being a real dick and I’m sorry. I love you”

Peter smiled at the mention of her childhood nickname for him. “It’s alright. We both said things we didn’t mean to say.”

He reached over and pulled her into a side hug. “Now, do you want to talk about ‘Iron Woman’?”

“I’m sorry.” Morgan felt her face burn. She pulled herself out of Peter’s embrace.

“Why did you put it on?” Peter asked.

“I wanted to help people! You always say that if you have the power to help people, and then you don’t help them, and bad things happen, they happen because of you.” Morgan said fiercely.

“That’s different, I-”

“You were bitten by a radioactive spider that gave you superpowers. And I have a suit of armour that can help save our world. How is that any different?” Morgan asked.

“Yes, and I helped. And look where that got me. Looking back, I really shouldn’t have done half the things I did when I was your age.” Peter admitted 

“But look at you! You’re fine!” Morgan tried. 

Peter’s gaze hardened.“I would not define having PTSD at the age of 17 as fine. And I had training, lots of it before I faced aliens. Tony and Rhodey helped, a lot. You went out with nothing, to face aliens. That’s not safe!”

“But I can’t give this up! I’m nothing-”

“Don’t you dare say you are nothing without the suit.” Peter’s eyes had grown moist. “That is absolutely not true.”

“Fine. But I really really want to do this. I can help people. Don’t you understand?” Morgan pleaded.

Peter sighed, and mumbled something like, “Oh, what would Tony do,” before raising his voice. “What about this. First, we talk to your Mom. Nonnegotiable. And then, if she approves, you come up to the compound every week for training. Rhodey can show you how to really use the suit, and the rest of us can show you how to actually fight.”

“Really?” Morgan asked hopefully. “Like an avenger?”

“Nope. More like an avenger in training. Junior avenger.” Peter corrected.

“Yes! That- that’d be wonderful! Thanks Peter!” Morgan cried.

“Woah, hold your horses. We still need to ask you mom for permission, okay?” Peter said.

“Yeah, yeah.” Morgan grinned.

“One more thing.” Peter stopped her from jumping off the sofa. “Is there another reason you decided to put on the suit?”

Morgan paused. She thought back to what she felt earlier to get closer to her dad. “I don’t remember dad at all you know?”

“Morgan-,” Peter tried to interrupt.

“I just remember flashes. Juice pops. A scratchy beard.” Morgan struggled to think of more things. “A nickname. But that's not really anything. People always ask me what it’s like for my dad to have been Tony Stark. They ask me what I miss about him, or what what my favourite memory about him was.” She sniffed. “But I don’t remember anything.”

“Oh Morgan.” Peter sighed.

“So I put on the suit because, I guess I thought it would make him closer to me or something. I don’t know. Maybe it could trigger some memories? ‘Cause, how do I miss something that I don’t remember having?” Morgan asked quietly. “And nobody really understands.”

“Did you know my parents died when I was four?” Peter asked.

She shook her head. Morgan had never really thought about Peter’s parents, or who he had lived with before Aunt May.

“Yeah. Uh, plane crash. They had promised that they would be back on Friday, and that they would take me to get Thai food. But, they uh, they never came back. And then I moved to Aunt May’s and Uncle Ben’s, and I was so confused. I didn’t get why everyone was wearing black and crying. I didn’t understand why my parents didn’t come home.”

Morgan looked up at him with teary eyes. “I don’t think little kids really understand the concept of death.

“Yeah, well. Ben and May would tell me stories and show me pictures. So now, I have memories I think I have of them, but they could very well be stories that I have been told that I try so hard to remember.” Peter smiled uncomfortably.

“But story memories are better than no memories right?” Morgan said, a tear slowly tracking down her cheek. “Can you tell me about him?”

“What sort of things?” Peter asked through his own tears.

“Anything, I guess. Everything. Good and bad things.” Morgan answered.

“Well, he loved rock music, especially AC/DC. He would blast it in the labs, even in the middle of the night. One time, I came over when he was playing AC/DC and said, ‘I love Led Zeppelin!’. He was so scandalized. He gave me a three hour lesson on rock music, and in the end I still can’t really tell the difference.” Peter laughed tearfully. “He had so many embarrassing nicknames for me, for everybody really. He would always groan when we watched Star Wars and say he hates it, but Rhodey told me he went to every single Star Wars premiere he’s been alive for.”

Morgan laughed. “What about the bad things?”

“He was a mess. He would go an entire week without sleep because of nightmares. He would have panic attacks and all sorts of things that come along with PTSD. But he would refuse to see a therapist. He was so, so stubborn. He would set his mind on something, and just focus on that. He didn’t really like it when people disagreed with him. I think that’s why the Avengers broke up. But Tony and Cap where so stubborn, and didn’t want to listen to each other’s side.”

“But he was always there for me.” Peter smiled sadly. “And I know for a fact that he loved you, very very much.”

Morgan nodded and rested her head on Peter’s shoulder. “I miss him. At least the idea of him,” she admitted.

Peter put an arm around her. “I miss him too.”

They sat together in companionable silence, mourning a man who was more to them than the man who saved the world.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Yeah Pietro is still alive. I needed more Avengers XD


End file.
